


memory in another

by staccato



Series: things i'll never finish [4]
Category: Code Geass
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 04:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20091190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staccato/pseuds/staccato
Summary: displeased with the aftermath of the zero requiem, c.c. and suzaku turn back the clock.





	memory in another

**Author's Note:**

> time moves in one direction, memory in another  
– william gibson

It was a Monday.

Nothing is supposed to happen on a Monday.

…

Yet something does, and it changes everything.

~

Lelouch is on his way back from another chess match, a cheque of 10,000 pounds safely deposited in one of his many, many saving accounts. He balances his cheek on one hand, using the other to flip through a book, taking a moment to enjoy the wind in his hair as Rivalz navigates his motorbike through the busy traffic.

But then there are no other cars on the road except for them. And then there’s a truck behind them. And then there’s a car crash.

Lelouch doesn’t hesitate to jump down to help, pausing momentarily to scorn those who are only standing to the side; who are only _talking_ about calling the police.

It doesn’t take much effort to climb on top of the truck, to lean over the opening in order to look for survivors. But the truck moves, then, which surprise and unbalances Lelouch enough for him to fall into the interior, narrowly avoiding having his neck snapped. His instinct tells him to hide in the corner and blend in with the shadows, to shut his mouth and not make a sound as a terrorist passes him by, then—

A guard finds him, the police, and Lelouch is half afraid that he’ll be mistaken for a terrorist and shot, and half afraid that he’ll be recognized as a prince and taken to Clovis. Except he’s Suzaku, his long lost friend; his best friend, who is now a Honorary Britainnian, in the army, serving the country which destroyed both of their lives, and Lelouch doesn’t even have time to be angry about that before the capsule—with the poison gas, on god oh god he’s going to die without doing anything worthwhile—cracks open.

Suzaku tackles him down, covering Lelouch’s body with his own and his face with his own gasmask, leaving himself open and vulnerable (and isn’t that just like him?). Except he doesn’t die (neither of them die) because the capsule only contains a girl. A girl with strange green hair, but just a girl nonetheless.

Not poison gas. Not a weapon of mass destruction.

A girl in a straitjacket, bound and gagged. She appears to be unconscious when she falls out of the capsule and hits the floor of the truck with a loud thud.

He and Suzaku share an uncertain glance, amethyst and jade eyes meeting before Suzaku scrambles off, offering a hand to help Lelouch up. They approach the girl together, watching her chest rise and fall (she is breathing she is alive!).

Lelouch speaks first, “Tell me the truth, Suzaku. Poison gas? This girl?”

Suzaku shakes his head, quick to defend himself. “That’s what they told us in the briefing, I swear.”

Lelouch frowns. He wonders if Suzaku’s superiors are aware of what was truly inside the capsule, and neglected to mention it to their foot soldiers. Or does only Clovis know the truth?

His former assumption is confirmed when the rest of Suzaku’s garrison rounds the corner of the building, coming to a stop in the doorway, blocking their escape route. Lelouch studies them as they look at the open capsule, and narrows his eyes when most of them flinches back, arm raising to make sure their gasmasks are in place.

_Ah,_ he realizes. _So they were fed the lie as well._

But the Captain steps forward, gun cocked and a snarl forming on his lips. ”Stinking monkey! Being an Honorary Britannian will not save you now!”

He’s not afraid at all, Lelouch notices. Which means he knows what was in the capsule, and he’s angry at Suzaku for revealing its secrets.

Shit, he has a gun.

“But sir!” Suzaku protests, moving as if to approach his Captain. Stupid boy, Lelouch thinks, tightening the grip he has on Suzaku’s hand—he hadn’t realized they hadn’t let go until now, but he’s glad for it. “I was told this was poison gas!”

“How dare you question order!?”

Lelouch cringes, stepping back involuntarily and dragging Suzaku with him. Clumsily, he trips over the body and falls down, landing on the girl who had been in the capsule.

Their skin touches.

And Lelouch is screaming.

~

When he blinks back to awareness, Lelouch finds himself staring at Suzaku’s legs as they propel his friend away from him—Suzaku is walking towards his Captain, hand extended to accept the gun that is offered.

Lelouch doesn’t have the faintest idea of what is happening, of how he got here, of where he is, but when Suzaku cocks the handgun and aims it at Lelouch, he knows, with absolute certainty, that he’s going to die.

(Again.

But wasn’t once enough? Was Suzaku not satisfied with driving a sword into his heart? What else must he do to atone for his actions? To apologize for the countless deaths he caused?)

Which is why he is surprised when Suzaku suddenly whirls around and shoots his Captain in the head. The man falls back, brain matter splattering on the concrete behind him.

Suzaku doesn’t give the rest of the Britainnians the chance to react. He moves, quicker than the eye can see, using a combination of his physical strength and the gun to take down his fellow soldiers. The mini massacre ends quickly enough.

“I apologize for the mess, Your Majesty,” Suzaku says after a minute, turning to face Lelouch. There’s a ring of red around his eyes, sharp against his green iris.

“It’s no problem,” Lelouch replies faintly, still dazed. “I—”

He yelps as he’s pushed to the ground, a slender hand on his back. “Get off of me, boy. You’re heavy.”

Suzaku chuckles, and steps forward to help Lelouch up again, just like he did when they were in the truck. It was only five minutes prior, but the two of them are so, so, so different now.

“So,” Lelouch says after a second. “What happened?”

“I got bored,” C.C. replies, freeing herself of the rest of her bindings.

“You got bored,” Lelouch repeats flatly. “So you did…what? Sent us back in time?”

He says the last part incredulously, because how can time travel be an actual thing that exists? Yet he also cannot provide any other explanation for what he is observing around him. The events that have happened, the place he is at, the people he has met, the conversations he has had…

They mimic exactly those of the last time he was at Shinjuku Ghetto, when he first obtained the power of geass. That, plus the adrenaline rush gained from winning his first battle as Zero, ensued that he could never forget a single details that trespassed on this day.

But perhaps this is an incredibly surreal hallucination, conjured up by his dying mind.

Suzaku’s voice brings Lelouch out of his thoughts. “Don’t listen to her,” he says with a rueful shake of his head. “She’s lying.”

Right. Of course. Time travel doesn’t exist. C.C. was just teasing him, like she always does—

“She didn’t do it because she was bored. She did because she missed you,” Suzaku pauses, before correcting himself. “_We_ missed you.”

Lelouch doesn’t have the time to dwell on that last statement, even though he would like all the time in world to figure just what, exactly, caused this change in tune. The last time they talked, Suzaku had been all too willing to kill him.

Miss him? As if.

“You hate me,” Lelouch reminds him, hesitantly. He doesn’t necessarily want Suzaku to remember that he had once hated Lelouch enough to bring him in front of the Emperor and hold him as he mind was raped, but…

“I hated you. Past tense,” Suzaku says. “Lelouch, you must have known—killing you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he falls his knees, looking up at Lelouch with wet, shining eyes. “And I cannot even begin to apologize for that. For all of the hurt I’ve caused you.”

“But you wanted to kill me,” Lelouch says, still befuddled, even as he kneels beside his friend and clasps their hands together. “For Euphy. For Shirley. For everyone.”

“I…” Suzaku turns away, looking down at his lap. “C.C. explained everything to me. That it was an accident. That it was Rolo who…” his head snaps up. “Why did you never tell me? Why did you let me blame you? Let me hate you?”

Lelouch barks out a sharp laugh, pulling away. “What does it matter that it was an accident? That it wasn’t me who pulled the trigger? Their deaths were still my fault. My burdens to bear.”

“No!” Suzaku snaps, reaching to grasp Lelouch’s shoulders and pull him close. “I won’t allow you to blame yourself like this, to lie to me…to lie to us; to lie to yourself. Lelouch, please, don’t do this again. Not this time. Not when we’ve been given a second chance to do everything right. To fix everything!”

Lelouch has no idea how to respond to this Suzaku, who is so very different from the one Lelouch spent two years of his life fighting against. Or will spend fighting? Lelouch was already disoriented from the supposed time traveling. To be suddenly confronted with an apologetic, guilty Suzaku…

Lelouch feels a headache building behind his eyes.

Fortunately, their conversation is interrupted by the entrance of a knightmare frame. There’s a pause as the pilot takes in the scene, and the sound of a cackle as the radio is turned on. A familiar voice demands, “what happened here?!”

Well, well, well. If it isn’t for Villetta Nu.

For a second, Lelouch thinks about using the same excuse he used in the previous timeline, before disregarding the idea. Villetta might be ambitious enough to leave the safety of her knightmare frame to gain the favor of a duke, but she’s not stupid. There’s no way she’ll believe the lie, even adjusted—that Lelouch’s the son of a duke, C.C.’s his girlfriend, and Suzaku’s their Numbered servant—this time, especially considering the visible streaks of blood smeared across Suzaku’s face.

Suzaku seems to agree, because he makes a sign indicating _“change of plan,”_ or something of. When Lelouch nods, Suzaku is quick to bring up the gun he had used to kill the soldiers, and aim it at Lelouch. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot him,” he threatens.

Lelouch immediately catches on. “No, please, don’t,” he begs, putting his hands up in the air. “My father is a duke, he’ll give you whatever you want, just don’t kill me.”

“Shut up!” Suzaku shouts, and changes the target of his aim. “Or would you like it if I shot your mistress instead?”

C.C. only stares at him blankly, but since her body is covered by Lelouch’s, Villetta doesn’t actually know that. Their whole ploy would fall apart if she saw C.C. so apathetic and unafraid. Fortunately, it does work.

“Don’t shoot!” Villetta commands. “What do you want?”

_Success._

“I want you to come out of your knightmare, and I want you to give it to me,” Suzaku says.

There’s a moment of hesitation, then the cockpit opens. Villetta lands on the floor a second later, access key in hand. “I give you the key, you give me the gun,” she tries to bargain.

Suzaku glances at Lelouch, who shakes his head minutely. _Don’t kill_.

“Deal. On the count of three…”

They exchange objects, and Suzaku immediately runs toward the knightmare, hiding behind one of its legs as Villetta begins to shoot at him. She is so focused on the Eleven that she doesn’t notice Lelouch approaching her from behind until a pair of hands land on her shoulders. Lelouch turns her around, forcing her to meet his eyes. 

“_You will forget meeting us_,” he says, feeling the flare of geass as it activates.

Her arms fall to the sides. “Understood,” she respond blankly.

A moment later, she crumbles to the floor. Suzaku stands in her place, a furrow between his eyebrows. “Why didn’t you let me kill her?”

Lelouch chuckles. “You sure changed a lot, haven’t you?”

“Both of us have,” C.C. says, walking to join their group. They ignore the prone form of Villetta Nu at their feet—she was only knocked out. She’ll be fine in a bit.

Well. Depending on how much force Suzaku put in his punch.

Regardless, they’ll be long gone by the time she wakes.

“Shall we join the battle, Your Majesty?” Suzaku questions before Lelouch can respond to C.C.’s statement.

Lelouch hesitates. On the one hand, he doesn’t care much for the Black Knights anymore, considering how easily and quickly they betrayed him to Schniezel, the man they had been fighting against mere days before. But on the other hand, the innocent Japanese living in Shinjuku ghetto doesn’t deserve to die just because he’s feeling petty.

“Might as well,” he agrees.

“I’m leaving. I’ll find you when you’re done,” C.C. says, unsurprisingly. She’s never had much interests in his rebellion, after all. In the early days, Lelouch had suspected that she’s only stayed for his credit card.

(“You can’t order pizza online with just cash,” C.C. had said once, when Lelouch had finally confronted her.)

“Stay safe,” Suzaku adds, unnecessarily, as she disappears around the corner.

And then there are two.

“Let’s go,” Lelouch urges, walking towards the knightmare. He pulls himself up first, then sends the rope back down, settling into the pilot’s chair while he wait. Suzaku joins him a moment later. He takes in the small space, before shrugging and plopping himself down on Lelouch’s lap.

He immediately yelps. “What are you doing?”

“I apologize for my impertinence, Your Majesty,” Suzaku replies, wiggling to get comfortable. He looks back at Lelouch, and there’s a teasing grin at the edge of his mouth that Lelouch wants to kiss off. “But as you can see, there are nowhere else for me to sit.”

“You can just stand,” Lelouch suggests, even as he moves to wrap an arm around Suzaku’s waist, pulling his back flush against Lelouch’s front. He relaxes when Suzaku doesn’t flinch at the contact.

“I’ve never seen anyone standing while piloting a knightmare before. Well, except for Kallen.”

“Who says you’re piloting?”

Suzaku raises an eyebrow, and Lelouch sighs, conceding the point. Lelouch isn’t a terrible a pilot, per se, but both of them are aware that Suzaku’s skills are far superior. “Well, I suppose you’re not terrible at it.”

Ignoring Suzaku’s disgruntled expression, Lelouch reaches over him to jam the key into the slot and type in the access code. When the knightmare boots up, he taps at one of the display screen until a set of coordinates appear. “Here. This is the building I was in last time.”

Suzaku immediately begins to navigate the knightmare into position, even as he remarks, “I’m surprise you didn’t fight with them. Whatever happened to ‘leading with the King’?”

Lelouch scoffs, a gust of air brushing against the nape of Suzaku’s neck. “As if I was going to risk my life fighting with people whose name I didn’t even know. Unlike you, I’m not actually suicidal.”

The irony of that statement hits him a second later, and he can feel Suzaku tense in his arms. Silence dawns in the cockpit for a long moment, before Suzaku says, “…I’m sorry for killing you.”

“Not your fault, idiot. It was all part of the Zero Requiem, remember?”

“Still, I shouldn’t have…” Suzaku trails off, shaking his head slightly. “This is not the time. Can we talk later, Your Majesty?”

“…later, then,” Lelouch promises. “And you and C.C. better explain what you two did.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Suzaku agrees, just as they settle into their spot. A minute later, Kallen’s knightmare appear in their sights.

Lelouch smirks. _It’s showtime._

Things happen remarkably similar as last time’s, with the exception that Lelouch has Suzaku there with him, on his side, like he should have always been. He’s so giddy with the fact that he doesn’t consider the possible consequences until a familiar white knightmare bursts onto the scene. Lelouch flinches, mind already spinning to try to counter the Lancelot’s superior speed and strength, except…

“The pilot’s pretty…bad,” Suzaku observes after a while, as Lelouch’s forces begins to fight back against the Lancelot, _successfully_. “Lloyd must be crying.”

“Poor him,” Lelouch says, with absolutely no sympathy. He can’t say he’s displeased with the results. The Lancelot has once crippled many of his plans, it’s nice to see it actually being defeated. He opens the com link. “Q1!”

Kallen’s voice drifts through. “Yes?”

“Incapacitate the Lancelot, but do not destroy the frame,” Lelouch orders. “It’ll be a waste of a knightmare. Take it with you when you leave.”

“Understood,” Kallen responds, then the second part of his instructions registers. “Wait, leave? What about you?”

“I have an audience with the Viceroy,” Lelouch responds, just as Clovis’ announcement blares through the ghetto—it’s time for a gentrification.

Lelouch closes the com link, ignoring Kallen’s panicked yells. “Come on,” he urges Suzaku, poking his side so he’ll move faster. Suzaku shoots him a look, annoyed, but obediently follows his commands.

With Suzaku’s piloting, it takes them no time to reach the Viceroy Palace. Lelouch is fully prepared to geass the guards to leave, as he did in the past timeline, but they point their guns at him, and Suzaku’s instincts kicks in.

A moment later, the guards are on the ground. Unconscious or dead, Lelouch can’t really tell, but he doubts it’s the former. Suzaku is rarely that sloppy.

“Come on,” Suzaku says from where he stands in front of the doors, throwing his words from earlier back at him. Lelouch rolls his eyes, but follows him through the door and down the hallway. They find their way to the throne room easily enough, with Suzaku incapacitating anyone who stands in their way. Before they enter, Lelouch grabs a gun from a fallen body, and cocks it.

Suzaku shoots him a look. “You’re not going to kill him again, are you?”

“Who knows?” Lelouch responds vaguely, enjoying the look of frustration that crosses his knight’s face. Lelouch ignores him and opens the door, aiming the gun right in front of him. “Don’t move.”

The figure on the thrones stills. There’s a long, drawn-out silence, before Clovis speaks, voice trembling, “w-what do you want?”

“I want you to withdraw your troops,” Lelouch replies, repeating the same words he said last time. “The innocent Japanese doesn’t deserve to pay for your mistake.”

“I—”

Lelouch lowers his arms and shoots. Clovis yelps as a bullet embeds itself into the right beside his feet. “Let me clarify: that wasn’t a request.”

Clovis doesn’t need any additional encouragement. The announcement is made shortly after, Lelouch smiling in satisfaction all the while. It doesn’t matter that this is the second time he did this—he’s always happy to get one over his enemies. He looks forward to beating Schneizel again.

“Well?” Clovis questions, when the sound of fighting outside ceased. His voice is calmer, now, and he’s even decided to prop his chin on top of his knuckles—the picture of ease. He must have used the time to recover his composure, Lelouch decides. Clovis has always been a good actor. That is, when he hasn’t been caught off guard. Unfortunately for him, Lelouch has many surprises for him left yet. “Are you satisfied?”

“Very. Well done.”

Clovis leans back in his seat, seemingly bored. “And what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads, or perhaps play a nice game of chess?”

Suzaku chuckles. Seems like the irony of that statement didn’t escape him, either.

“That has a familiar ring,” Lelouch grants.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you recall?” Lelouch asks, adopting a mocking tone. “The two of us used to play chess together as boy. Of course, I would always win.”

_“What?”_

“Remember? At the Aries Villa?”

“You,” Clovis starts, then pauses, swallowing heavily. “Who are you?”

_Time to end this,_ Lelouch thinks. He steps into the light, relishing in the look of shock marring Clovis’ aristocratic features. _That will never get old._ “It’s been a long time, big brother,” he stops, considering, before deciding that, no, he’s an emperor. He will not kneel for a prince. “I’m the eldest son of the late consort Marianne and seventeenth in line to the imperial throne—Lelouch vi Britannia.”

Clovis jolts forward, almost flying out of his seat. “Le-Lelouch? But I thought—!”

“That I was dead?” Lelouch finishes with an amused twist of his lips. “You were wrong, brother. And I’ve returned to change everything.”

Silence, then—“oh my _god_, Lelouch,” Suzaku interjects, breaking off into chuckles. “Do you have to be this dramatic?”

Lelouch rolls his eyes. Trust Suzaku to ruin his moment. “Shut up.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Suzaku says, even going so far as to salute him, though his face was still full of mirth. Lelouch decides to ignore him, turning his attention back Clovis, who is stood still, staring at him with disbelief. He flinches into action, however, when the sound of a gun cocking reaches his ear. Lelouch brings up his arms again, his aim true and deadly as he begins his ascent up the dais.

“I—I’m overjoyed, Lelouch,” Clovis speaks quickly, stumbling backwards until his knees hit his throne and he falls. “They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back. We should depart for the homeland immediately.”

Lelouch presses the nozzle of gun against his blond hair. “So you can use me as a tool of diplomacy? It seems you’ve forgotten why we were used in the first place. That’s right: it was because my mother was kill—shot. By you people.”

“It wasn’t me!” Clovis cries desperately. “I swear to you it wasn’t.”

A beat. The Lelouch sighs, and lowers the gun. “I know,” he says, to Clovis’ great surprise.

“Lelouch?”

“My mother was attacked by our uncle,” he tells Clovis. “She isn’t even dead. However,” suddenly, he grabs Clovis’ face by the cheeks, forcing him to stare straight into his eyes, both burning from the power of geass, “just because you’re innocent, does not mean I can allow you to freely run around and tip off Father of my plans. No. You, Clovis la Britannia, will _love me.”_

The command takes hold immediately, and a glowing ring of red encircles Clovis’ eyes; his pupils dilate, and he relaxes into his seat. “Of course, brother.”

Lelouch smirk softens to a smile, and he leans down to press a kiss on Clovis’ forehead. “Good.”

~

“Love?”

Lelouch hums in response to Suzaku’s question. They’ve left the palace in another stolen knightmare frame, this one even more outdated than Viletta’s. It’s harder to pilot, but it also drew less attention. Now, they’re on their way to drop Lelouch back at Ashford Academy, before Suzaku desposits the knightmare somewhere and returns to report in at the military base. The plan is for him to sneak out again at night and meet Lelouch, because the two of them have a long conversation ahead of them. “The power of love is quite extraordinary,” he answers. “For instance, my rebellion began because of my love for Nunnally. When you love someone, you want to do everything for that person.” That was a lesson he learned from Shirley Fennette.

Suzaku nods faintly in acknowledgement. “But why not just order him to obey you?”

“I could have,” Lelouch agrees. “But as I’ve found during the requiem, those people become mindless. They do not do anything which hasn’t been ordered, which is fine if I need an army, but not ideal for a viceroy—I cannot afford to spend every second monitoring and checking Clovis’ actions and decisions. This way, he’ll behave as he normally would, until I tell him to act otherwise. Then his love for me will override any other thoughts of his, and he’ll do as I say.”

Suzaku glances back at him. “And if he doesn’t?”

Lelouch shrugs. “Then he will have been a failed experiment, and I will have Jeremiah nullify his geass, and try again.”

“I suppose. To be honest, I expected you to kill him.”

“Did you want me to?” Lelouch asks.

“I want you to destroy anyone who may pose a risk to you,” Suzaku replies, utterly serious, and Lelouch is _delighted._ Ah, how far Suzaku has come from the boy who has pretended to be guided by morals and principles. Lelouch prefers this version of him far more.

“…I considered it,” he confesses, after a beat. “But if Clovis dies, then Father will sent in Cornelia and…” Euphy, he doesn’t says. Instead: “…and she is more difficult opponent than Clovis. I do not want to deal with her until we are ready.”

“You beat her before, though,” Suzaku points out, unconvinced.

“…fine,” he confesses reluctantly. “it’s because I didn’t want to do it. He’s my brother, he…” Lelouch trails off, the words getting caught in his throat. _He was one of the few royal children who didn’t shame them for my and Nunnally’s common roots, _he wanted to say._ He often came to the villa and played with us. He painted our portraits. He played chess with me despite knowing he would lose, because he liked seeing his brother win and happy. _“Out of all the atrocities I committed last time, killing him was the hardest thing I did. I loved him.”

Suzaku does not reply, nor does Lelouch want him to. Instead, he allows Lelouch to press his forehead in to the nape of his neck, and pretends not to notice the wetness leaking into his uniform.

~

It’s dark when Lelouch returns home, but the dining room lights still shine brightly, and a plate of food awaits for him. He heats it up in the microwave, standing still as he watches the plate turn. The sound of running water can heard from the bathroom—Sayoko must be helping Nunnally take a bath.

He eats his dinner absent-mindedly, grateful for the opportunity to be alone, even for a little while. It gives him the chance to gather his composure in preparation to seeing his sister again; to shed the face of the Demon Emperor, the monster who she viewed with disgust and hatred, and don the mask the Lelouch Lamperouge, her brother who could do no wrong.

Lelouch takes in a shuddering breath. Closes his eyes. When he opens them, the water has been turned off and the bathroom door opens. Sayoko emerges, pushing the wheelchair in which Nunnally sits, wrapped in a fluffy bath robe.

Predictably, Sayoko notices him first, “welcome home, Lelouch-sama.”

Nunnally perks up immediately. “Big brother?”

“It’s me, Nunnally,” he confirms, abandoning his seat to kneel besides her, sliding his hands into hers. At his nod, Sayoko steps away, leaving the two of them alone. “I’m sorry for coming home so late. I got caught up by something.”

Nunnally shakes her head, “it’s alright. As long as you’re safe. I heard the new about what happened in Shinjuku, and I was worried you might have been…”

Lelouch kisses the back of her hand. “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

He changes the conversation after that, asking about her day. He already knows her answers, of course, and the monotony of it should have bored of him. But it doesn’t. Rather, he is delighted that he is able to sit at his sister’s feet and listen to her talk of her peaceful day, untainted any mentions of rebellions or wars. She does not shy away from his touch, but willingly brushes her fingers over his face to gauge his expression. Her expression is open and welcoming, free of fear or anger.

Sometime later, Sayoko enters the rooms, smiling apologetically as she clasps her hands in front of her. “I apologize for the interruption, Lelouch-sama, Nunnally-sama, but it is time for bed.”

A glance at the clock confirms her statement. Lelouch stands up, brushing the dust off his trousers. “Sorry for keeping you, Nunnally. You must be quite tired.”

“It’s really okay,” Nunnally says. “Really. I missed these talks of ours.”

Lelouch remembers the later days of the Rebellion, when he had been swamped by responsibilities that the most he could say to his sister was a good morning before running out the door. It seems that he’s been distancing himself from Nunnally earlier than he realized.

He swears this time will be different.

“I’ve been neglecting you, huh?” he says quietly, bending down to kiss her forehead. “I’m really sorry, Nunnally. I love you.”

“I love you too, big brother,” she replies sweetly. “Good night.”

“Good night,” he echoes. Sayoko replaces him at Nunnally’s side, pushing the wheelchair away. Lelouch remains standing for a moment longer, staring at his fingers. Memories of the last time Nunnally held his hand crash into his mind, unbidden. They’d been stained with his blood, wet and weak, unable to hold hers like he wanted for the last time.

He clenches his fists. He’ll do better by her, this time around.

When he goes into his room, C.C. is lounging on his bed, eyes closed and curled into herself. An empty box of pizza sits on the bedside table.

“You’re so slow, Lelouch,” she says as he closes the door, stretching languidly. Lelouch is, not for the first time, reminded of a cat.

“I didn’t know you’d be waiting for me, did I?” he retorts, stripping out of his school uniform. He doesn’t bother to turn around, and neither does she. Once you survive imminent death together, concepts like humility and privacy seems unimportant in comparison.

“Where else would I be?” she says, and, well, Lelouch doesn’t have a good answer for that. “Catch.”

Unsurprisingly, he drops it. C.C. falls into a fit of quiet laughter at his expression of exasperation. He shoots her a glare, then bends down to pick up the object. It turns out to be a box of colored contacts.

“Because of the time travel, your geass should have returned to its weakened state. But it’s good to be prepared,” C.C. explains, answering his unspoken question.

Right. None of them wants a repeat of the SAZ massacre.

“Thank you, witch,” he says, genuinely grateful.

She hums.

Lelouch wait, but C.C. doesn’t say anything more. He sighs. When has she ever been forthcoming with relevant information?

“Now, are you going to explain the time travel to me?”

~

The story, as Lelouch understands it, goes something like this:

C.C. was never happy with the plan he and Suzaku devised in their attempt to fix the mess that Charles left behind. She’s seen kingdoms rise and fall, so doesn’t have much faith in their vision of a permanently peaceful world. All she cares for, really, can be counted for on one finger.

Which is Lelouch, apparently.

“Well, and sometimes Suzaku. Depending on annoying he is on that particular day,” C.C. amends, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

She especially hated that their plans culminated in Lelouch dying, but she’s always believed that he’d managed to take Charles’ code, and will thus survive the ordeal. When that was proven false—when the person she loves was taken away, leaving her to suffer the cruel fate of immortality, alone…well.

She’s a witch, after all.

“And what about Suzaku? How did you get him to agree to this?” They sacrificed so much so the sake of the Zero Requiem. Why would Suzaku turn his back on that?

C.C. snorts. “I didn’t threaten him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He helped me out of his own free will.”

Something registers in his mind. “Oh,” he murmurs. “It’s because Euphy is still alive, isn’t it?”

A moment later, a pillow hits him in the face.

“Hey!” he protests, quietly as to not disturb either Nunnally or Sayoko. “What was that for?”

“You’re so stupid, boy.”

“Excuse me?”

“Suzaku isn’t here for your sister—he’s here for you. Didn’t you hear what he said to you today?” she asks. “He regrets killing you. He missed you. He loves you.”

“But…”

C.C. shakes her head. “You didn’t see what he was like after the Requiem. Trust me when I say he was absolutely destroyed. In the early days, I don’t know if he slept more than an hour per night, or ate anything at all. But I do know that he’ll hurt himself just so he could feel your geass, and take on the more dangerous missions in the hopes that he’ll die in the process. He grieved you more than Nunnally did, and _she _didn’t speak for the first year of her reign. All that kept him alive were your orders. Tell me, was he like that after Euphy’s death?”

Lelouch shakes his head mutely.

“You know I didn’t like him, our first time around,” C.C. says, covering his hands with hers. “So believe me when I say there’s a reason why I’m now suddenly vouching for him. He might have hated you, once upon a time, but—Lelouch, it’s been ten years. He’s changed.”

Lelouch almost gapes. _“Ten years?”_

She nods. “Ten years,” she repeats, smiling sadly. “Yet when I mentioned the possibility of bringing you back, he immediately agreed to help me. What does that say about him?”

“That…” Lelouch pauses. Swallows. The evidence has been presented—by C.C., no less, the one person he trusts to never again betray him—but the conclusion just seemed so implausible. “That he loves me?”

“He loves you,” C.C. confirms, “and I love you. We broke the laws of the universe and turned back time for you, Lelouch. We’ll stand by your side from the very beginning. We’ll do everything right this time.”

Lelouch chokes out a disbelieving laugh, which quickly turns into a sob. He doesn’t remember the last time he allowed himself to cry. But now, in the face of this revelation, it seems that he could no longer hold back the tears. In response, C.C. leans closer, wrapping her arms around his head and directing his face to rest in the hollows of her neck. She lets him cling to her, with all the desperation of a dead man.

“It’s alright, now, Lelouch,” she whispers, shushing him gently. “It’s alright now, you’ll see. Everything will be alright.”

And for the first time in a long while, Lelouch lets himself hope.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the many, many time travel fix-its i've read.
> 
> thanks for reading! kudos make me really happy, and i welcome any and all comments :)


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